


No Longer Alone

by Ailyn_Vel



Category: Batman- all media types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Tags May Be Added, Angst, Bruce Wayne is Evil, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, The Justice League Are Jerks, Verbal Abuse, Wally Didn’t Die, YJ Season 2 finale AU, eventual hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25345186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailyn_Vel/pseuds/Ailyn_Vel
Summary: Chapter 1- The Team, League, and the Bats ignore/verbally abuse Nightwing.Chapter 2- Red Hood makes a surprise appearance in Blüdhaven and isn’t happy with what he finds.Chapter 3- Dick has a big decision to make.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Diana (Wonder Woman), Dick Grayson & Jason Todd
Comments: 71
Kudos: 237





	1. The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing, so fair warning. I don’t think I missed too many many mistakes when I wrote it. 
> 
> And please, please, please do not cuss in the comment section! Differing opinions are welcome because they lead to interesting discussion, but cussing does nothing productive.

It was finally over. The Light was defeated and the Reach had fled the planet for parts unknown. Nightwing turned to survey his team. Everyone was a little worse for wear, but there didn’t appear to be any serious injuries. Thank God everyone was still alive. 

Nightwing shook himself out of his reverie and began securing the villains for transport to a secure facility. He could feel the glares attempting to burn holes in his back, and judgmental stares from the teens that weren’t glaring. He couldn’t really blame them for being angry; they thought he didn’t trust them. But what they didn’t want to acknowledge was that not all of them had enough experience with hiding their emotions. If they had known that Kaldur and Artemis were undercover, they would have held back; their grief over her death would have seemed fake, or nonexistent, and would have given them away leading to Black Manta having them killed for real. Like the Joker did to Jason. Another failure in a long list of failures; a list that started with his family’s murder. 

He could live with their hate as long as it meant they were alive to hate him... or so he thought. 

Resolutely ignoring the feelings of hatred and betrayal assaulting him over the mind link, Nightwing ordered the Team to load the prisoners into the Bioship so they could all return to the Hall of Justice. The teens glared mutinously but they seemed to possess enough sense to not start a fight in front of the villains and did as they were told. 

A FEW HOURS LATER AT THE HALL OF JUSTICE: 

The tense, anger-filled silence had lasted only until the villains were locked up and not a second longer: 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” M’gann questioned angrily.

“What else are you hiding from us?” Conner demanded to know. 

“He clearly doesn't trust any of us.” L’gaan spit venomously. 

“I thought you said you were my brother. So much for that.” Tim’s scathing voice cut in. 

But even Tim’s cruel words weren’t the cruelest; that (heavy on the dis)honor went to Barbara. She stated, “No wonder your family died, they couldn’t stand to be around a failure like you any longer! You should have died with them!” 

Dick didn’t let any of them see how much pain their words caused. He looked to Wally, Kaldur, and Artemis for help or support or... anything really. Anything but their silence; *they* knew about the plan, were *in on it*, and yet all of the blame and the cruel words were directed solely at him. Why weren’t they saying something, anything? 

Before the accusations could begin again the computer alerted them that the League would be arriving there at the Hall in five minutes. Grateful for the distraction, Nightwing headed to the hanger to prepare for their arrival; the Team followed, discussing over the mind link what they should tell the Founders when they arrived. 

When the Leaguers’ disembark from their vehicle there is only deafening silence. They observe the Team for a few seconds before Batman barked a harsh, “Report.” The teen heroes all looked to Nightwing since they thought he should be the one to take responsibility and face punishment for his plan. Nightwing faced the Justice League and replied, “Maybe we should all sit down ‘cause it’s a long story.” With that non-answer the newly returned heroes lead the way to one of the Hall’s conference rooms and everyone filed in and took a seat. “Explain, now.” Superman ordered. 

“It started after Tula died,” Nightwing began. “Kaldur discovered that Black Manta is his father, and together we created a plan that would allow him to infiltrate the Light by ‘joining’ Manta’s forces. And it worked, for a few months anyway, until Vandal Savage demanded a final test of loyalty, and Kaldur needed help. So I asked Artemis to fake her death and go undercover to help him. She agreed.” 

“Why choose her when her and Kid Flash chose to retire?” John Stewart asked. 

“She was the only one who could. If I could have gone myself without being recognized and therefore blowing Kaldur’s cover, I would have done it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, Slade would have been able to recognize me no matter how I disguised myself and he would have sold us out.” Was Nightwing’s answer. 

“The young warrior is correct,” Wonder Woman interjected before more accusations could be voiced. “Deathstroke has a disturbing obsession for the first Robin and he has an uncanny ability to recognize him even through a disguise.” The Amazon’s words were enough to quell the rising argument before it could even really begin, and the rest of the briefing continued in a (mostly) civilized manner. 

After the briefing, as the exhausted League and Team members exited the conference room, Wonder Woman pulled Nightwing aside for a private discussion. “No matter what the rest of them think, you did the right thing; and no matter their decision on the subject, I will always be proud to fight at your side. You would make a great Amazon.” 

Nightwing smiled shakily. “Thank you,” he whispered, “I think I needed to hear that.” 

“Do not thank me, dear one.” The warrior replied. “The others are imbeciles if they think to punish you for making the hard decisions that every leader must. Now let us go and hear what they have to say.” And together the warrior princess and the child soldier left the room. 

As the princess and the acrobat entered the common room, the other heroes’ discussion cut off abruptly. 

“Nightwing, the League has come to a decision. You are -“

“You made a decision without allowing everyone to vote and voice their opinion on the matter?” The Amazon demanded furiously. 

The Man of Steel shrunk in on himself in the face of the demigoddesses’ righteous fury. Batman cut in before she could utter any more (well deserved) scathing words. “Everyone here knows what your vote would be, *princess*. It has already been decided. Effective immediately, Nightwing is to be removed from the Young Justice League and banned from all Justice League owned and affiliated property or resources.” 

Diana was ready to execute all of the so called “heroes” before her and, from the looks of it, Hawkwoman and Flash were ready to join her. Only a quiet voice stopped the massacre: “It’s not worth it; they won’t change their minds.” The three heroes who truly understood the sacrifices that a leader sometimes has to make watched the young man walk away, their hearts breaking for the boy who was the personification of what being a hero meant since he was just a child of eight. 

Batman stalked after the boy for reasons unknown. When he was out of sight Diana, Barry, and Shayera turned to the cowardly Man of Steel and announced their immediate resignation from the Justice League and turned to leave. They arrived in the the Zetatube room just in time to hear the sounds of armored gloves striking flesh and a low, cruel growl of, “I should have left you in the Detention Center to *rot*. It’s where you belong. You are no longer welcome in Gotham for any reason and are banned from all Wayne owned and affiliated property.” 

Nightwing fled through the Zetatube as tears streamed down his face. The three former League members bypassed the Bat to follow the Bird, Diana stopping just long enough to shatter the hypocritical child abusers shoulder sockets, then through the ‘Tube they went. 

Seconds later the three heroes arrived in Blüdhaven and immediately went about locating Nightwing. They searched for hours before they rested. The hours stretched into days, and the days into weeks. Eventually they each had to return to their own cities, but they hadn’t given up; they still searched for the missing hero, their lost nephew. But never in their wildest dreams would Dick Grayson burst back into their lives the way he does...


	2. The Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red Hoods makes a surprise appearance in Blüdhaven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much later than I was hoping for, but still very Monday. 
> 
> And I had definitely not planned to get into the whole Bruce stole and violated one of the only things that Dick had left of his parents, but it just sort of wrote itself. 
> 
> Hopefully this up to your all’s expectations.

Red Hood stood silent sentry over Blüdhaven; he had chosen Gotham’s uglier sister to get back into the swing of things before putting his plans in motion. And because the dump was his older brother’s chosen city (not that he would *ever* admit that he wanted to check up on said brother). Okay so he was worried about Dick, sue him. Nightwing hadn’t been seen with the Justice Brats or the Batfamily in almost three months and it was suspicious. 

Deciding that he wouldn’t get anywhere if he just kept standing around like a bump on a log, Ref Hood drew his grapple, fired, and swung farther into the city. As he traversed the rooftops, he kept his eyes peeled for trouble and/or a certain Bluebird. Sure enough, as he approached the city center, Hood spotted a suspicious looking shadow on the next roof over and went to investigate. 

As he suspected, the weird shadow was indeed Nightwing, and the man was completely out of it ; he hadn’t even noticed that he was no longer alone on his skyscraper hideout. Jason approached his brother slowly, trying his best not to spook him ‘cause that wouldn’t end well for either of them. (Jason may be taller and stronger than Dick but the man still had training that Jason didn’t and years more experience to boot). He crouched down next to the (not so) missing hero trying to find any visible cause for Nightwing’s lack of vigilance (was he drunk, drugged, have a head wound, get attacked by a psychic?).

Finding no visible injuries, Red Hood carefully put one hand on his brother’s shoulder and gave him a gentle-ish shake. Nothing. “What gives, Big Bird, I’ e never seen you this out of it before.” Red Hood questioned. The combination of his voice and a slightly rougher shake was enough to finally gain the other male’s attention. 

“Wh-who -,” Nightwing started before his voice gave out. 

“It seems Daddybats wasn’t the only person to forget about me. So much for being brothers.” The words were stated as fact, but the tone wasn’t anywhere near as malicious as it could have been. 

All the blood drained from Dick’s face as he shook his head frantically. “No, no, no.” The older teen panicked. “Dead, Jason’s dead; he’s dead and he’s not coming back. You’re not , not real, you can’t be real.” 

Not expecting a reaction like that, Jason knew he had to calm Dick down and fast before he made himself sick. “Woah, hey, easy. Calm down, Big Bird, before you hurt yourself.” Instead of helping, his words seemed to make things worse. ‘Well,’ Jason thought to himself, “ if the news can be believed it’s not like he’ll be telling the Bat any time soon anyway.’ With that thought in mind, he removed his helmet and,after making sure they were alone on the roof, the domino mask quickly followed. 

Inching forward slowly, Jason used his left hand to tilt his brother’s head up and remove his mask so he could meet Dick’s eyes. What he saw disturbed him; those blue eyes that were always so full of light and life were dull and dead looking. It made Jason feel sick in a way few things did anymore. 

“What happened to you, Dickiebird?” The Red Hood questioned softly, while keeping his brother’s gaze locked with his own. 

Staring into eyes that were so achingly familiar, if not a little more green than he remembered, snapped the older boy out of his panic. “J-jay, Jason, Little Wing? H-how? You were dead, I thought you were dead!”

“I was,” Jason answered. “C’mon, let’s get you somewhere warmer and I’ll explain the best I can. And then you can explain why Nightwing hasn’t been seen in Gotham or with the Justice Brats in almost three months, and has barely been seen here in Blüdhaven. Sound like a fair trade to you?” He asked, but it wasn’t really a question. Dick just nodded before trying to stand and failing miserably. Jason caught him before he could face plant into cement rooftop and picked the man up to sling over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 

He readied his grapple only to freeze when he realized that he didn’t know if Dick still lived in the same apartment. “Where to?” He questioned the disturbingly docile lump that was his older brother. “Still the same.” Was the quiet answer to Jason’s question, so he took off towards Dick’s apartment. 

Despite his size, Jason still found it difficult to haul 170 odd pounds of deadweight acrobat up the fire escape to said acrobat’s top floor apartment. Resisting the urge to drop Dick as soon as they made it through the window the bigger teen deposited his brother none to gently onto the couch before disappearing into the kitchen to raid the fridge. (Jason knew that, contrary to popular belief, Dick *could* actually cook and he was good at it too, he was just incapable of cooking for less than ten people; the guy learned from his mom who regularly cooked for the whole circus so it made sense that the man couldn’t cook just for himself and lived off of cereal and take-out). When his search turned up an empty fridge and equally empty cabinets (not even a box of cereal in sight) Jason was worried out of his mind. Dick *always* had food in the house even if it was just sugary cereal. No food in the place was a reason to panic because it meant something had sent Dick’s already low self-esteem to rock bottom and tossed it a shovel to keep on digging. 

Sighing in frustrated anger at whoever or whatever caused the acrobat’s downward spiral, Jason stuck his head into the living room only to find his brother asleep on the couch. Since the acrobat was asleep, the younger teen decided to make a quick grocery run and hastily scribbled a note to leave on the coffee table. When he returned with what he deemed to be an acceptable amount of groceries, Dick was still but he was tossing and turning restlessly. 

Abandoning the groceries just inside the door, Jason makes his way over to the young man on the couch and carefully shakes him awake. The teen hero bolts upright and tackles the younger man in a full body hug as soon as he processes who is beside him. Jason tries and fails to pry the sobbing acrobat off of his body and resigns himself to being a life-sized teddy bear until Dick could calm down, which took a lot longer than the antihero thought it would. 

When the first Robin finally ran out of tears, the second managed to move the two of them onto the couch so they could be a little more comfortable. “Dick, you have to let go so I can put the groceries away before the eggs go bad.” The acrobat just shook his head and clung tighter to his formerly dead little brother’s leather jacket. Jason sighed again and asked, “If you’re not going to let go, will you at least tell me why Nightwing has been pretty much a ghost for the last three months?” 

Jason could feel Dick’s hesitation and the older teen started crying again (somehow, how had he not run out of tears earlier?). “I can’t,” he choked out through his tears. “You’ll hate me, just like everyone else does!” 

“Well, I’ve killed people so you can’t have done anything worse than that, so I definitely won’t hate you.” Jason stated firmly. 

“That makes two of us then,” Dick croaked out, and then proceeded to tell Jason everything about The Plan. 

“So you asked and she, obviously, agreed ‘cause she missed the hero gig and Kid Mouth has been ticked off at you ever since.” Jason summarized. 

“Yeah.” Came Dick’s quiet answer. “When we finally defeated the Light and their alien partners, the Reach, nearly three months ago the whole plan came to light and now the entire Team and the Justice League hate me. Got kicked off the team I helped found and banned from all League property. B banned me from Gotham too. Again.” 

“Wait, what do you mean by again?” The mental picture Jason was getting was sickening. 

“This is the... fourth time, I think? The first was right after the final time Bruce fired me from being Robin (not that was his to give or take away); he told me to get out and never come back. And then a month later I see in the *newspaper* that some random kid is wearing my family’s colors and using my mom’s nickname for me.” Jason felt sick, but he had to know. “Did Bruce know...?” He couldn’t even finish the question. Dick snorted in disgust. “Of course he did. He asked why I chose Robin instead of something bat related. He *knew* it was one of the only things I had left of parents and he *stole* it. No one to even mention his parents and yet he steals all that I had left of mine!” Dick sobbed, helpless anger burning in his eyes. “Anyway, the second and third times could technically be counted as one, but I was told two separate times that I was no longer welcome in Gotham. The second time was a few months after your death, the day I found out you were dead, actually, and the day I found out that Bruce had replaced you too. He hit me and told me to leave my keys with Alfred. It was Alfred who told me how you died, so I left to hunt down the Joker; I had managed to beat him to death before B and Tim showed up and Bruce resuscitated him. He told me, again, to get out and stay, like I wanted to stay anywhere near a man who valued a mass murderer’s life more than the child he was supposed to protect. And the fourth and final time time was three months ago, right after the League returned from Rimbor. He hit me again and said he should have left me in the Detention Center to rot, and that was still nicer than what Barbara said.” 

The rage caused by the Lazarus Pit had *NOTHING* on the righteous fury burning through Jason’s veins at that moment. He managed to calm himself enough to ask, “Do I even want to know what she said?” 

Dick shrugged helplessly. “Probably not.”

“What about Diana and Shayera? I doubt they’ve kept quiet about the way everyone is treating you.” 

With a self-deprecating smile, Dick responded, “Them and Barry quit the League in protest. They recruited Roy to help them find me, but I’m not ready to talk to them yet so I’ve been hiding.” 

Jason was still too overwhelmed by this overload of new information to form a coherent thought so he blurted out the first halfway sensible sentence to pop into his head: “Hey, Dick, wanna help me protect people the way Batman won’t?”


	3. The Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick has a decision to make and receives several unexpected visitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be the last chapter, but it was already longer than chapter 2 and I was nowhere close to being able to set up a believable confrontation so ya’ll will be getting another chapter by Saturday night at the latest.

Previously:

“Hey, Dick, wanna help me protect people the way Batman won’t?”

NOW: 

Dick sat frozen on the couch, too many things happening all at once to process any of them. ‘Well crud,’ Jason thought to himself. ‘I didn’t mean to break him, so how do I fix it?’ The only thing he could think to do was something Dick had done for Jason when he was younger; Jason (to his eternal embarrassment) pulled Dick into a crushing hug, and almost instantly the acrobat’s entire body went slack.

It took longer than Jason was comfortable with for Dick to snap back to the present, but he eventually did. The older teen meekly lifted his face from where it had been hidden against Jason’s neck to give his younger brother a shaky bit genuine smile; Jason suspected it was the first real smile Dick had given anyone in months, if not longer. When he responded his voice was barely audible: “I’d love to, Little Wing. B’s way doesn’t work. He cares more about the monsters than their victims.” 

Jason’s grin was predatory. “We’ll just have to teach him a lesson then.” Dick’s answering grin was no less dangerous than Jason’s. “Gonna stick with Nightwing or come up with something new?” The marksman inquired curiously.

‘Nightwing is a symbol of hope and rebirth, something good coming from the ashes of disaster. I don’t really see a need to change it.” Dick answered. 

“Nightwing and Red Hood, I like it. It’s fitting.” The younger replied. “Starting tomorrow, let’s paint this town red. Any suggestions on where we should start?” 

“Blockbuster,” immediately left the hero’s mouth. “Roland Desmond. He’s dangerous and has a lot of power.” 

“Then that’s where we start,” Jason stated with vicious glee.

TWO MONTHS LATER:

Red Arrow was, once again, in Blüdhaven, this time attempting to follow up a rumor that Nightwing was working with the ‘Haven’s newest crime boss, the Red Hood. Roy thought it was ridiculous, Dick would never do something like that (not without a very good reason, at least).

Roy had been searching here, there, and yonder before he finally stumbled upon a firefight down at the docks and managed to spy a flash of familiar blue. “RA calling Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, and Flash; I found him. I repeat, I found him!” Immediately there are three separate voices shouting in his ear, demanding that he reveal the no longer missing acrobat’s location which he does.

Taking a few seconds to analyze the situation below him, Red Arrow launched himself into the fray, slotting seamlessly into Nightwing’s rhythm and covering the younger man’s six. The fight is over quickly and Nightwing frantically looked around. “Not funny, Hood; where are you?” The panicked hero demanded. Roy watched in dismay as the young man he considered one of his younger brothers ran towards one of the burning warehouses a few yards away, only to get yanked back by strong arms wrapping around the acrobat’s waist. 

“What have I said about all that self-sacrificial martyr complex crap, ‘Wing?” The crime lord demanded. 

“To no to.” Came Nightwing’s reply. He sounded like a chastised child. 

Roy cleared his throat awkwardly to gain the bickering duo’s attention. What he hadn’t expected was for Dick to slam into him in a full body hug (good thing he was used to it) and start apologizing for disappearing and not contacting anyone for so long. The older just shook his head, unfortunately very familiar with the original Boy Wonder’s behavior when something shattered his already pretty much nonexistent self-esteem. “I think it’s only fair to warn you that Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, and Flash are in their way here. They want to talk to you.” The older hero said. 

“Traitor,” Dick grumbled under his breath. “But I guess I have avoided them for long enough. Will you please tell them to meet us at my apartment so we can talk in private? ‘Cause this is really not a conversation to be had in front of a bunch of goons.” 

“Sure,” Roy agreed. “Change of plans, everyone meet at N’s place.” He announced over his comm. “Now, do you want to explain why you’re working with a crime lord of all people?” Roy asked, eyebrows approaching his hairline. 

“It can wait for a more secure location, Speedy Gonzales.” Red Hood cut in. 

Nightwing gave his partner an exasperated look. “Why do you always try to provoke everyone? I don’t get it.” 

“Just part of my charm, Big Bird,” came the cocky retort. 

Roy’s jaw dropped in stunned surprise. “Ja -“. His words were cut off by two hands slapping over his mouth. He pulled away saying, “Right, sorry. No names in the field.” 

“Let’s get this show on the road.” Jason said impatiently. “Some of us actually have things to do tonight.” 

“Please don’t fight,” Nightwing begged his obnoxious younger brother. 

“Spoilsport.” The teenaged crime lord muttered childishly before sticking his tongue out at his brother.

The oldest of the trio facepalmed at the younger two’s antics. “Just get moving,” he sighed in aggravation. 

Both former Boy Wonders shut their mouths and set off for Dick’s apartment, Roy following close behind them. When they reached the right rooftop Dick led the way down the fire escape and through the window into his living room where they were confronted by a very unwelcome guest. “No, nope, nuh-uh, I refuse to deal with you right now.” The hero said to the mercenary sitting on his couch cleaning his weapons. 

“Long time no see, Little Bird.” Deathstroke replied. “Haven’t seen you with the rest of the goody-goodies lately. Did something happen?” The hitman questioned curiously. 

“Not that it’s any of your business, Slade, but I made a plan that saved the world from from the Light and the Reach and now everyone is ticked off about it.” The acrobat retorted, removing his mask. 

“Hey, don’t lump us in with those hypocrites!” The two red vigilantes exclaimed indignantly.

Dick shook his head and opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Great.” The young man grunted. “I forgot they were coming.” 

Slade cocked his head, listening. “The Amazon, the Thanagarian, and the slightly more tolerable speedster?” He questioned as Roy went to answer the door. His question was answered when the three heroes followed behind Red Arrow, all of three of them in civvies. 

The former Leaguers eyed the hitman with surprise and suspicion. Surprisingly, Barry was the first to break the silence: “If we had known you had other company we would have waited.” 

“If I had known I had company waiting for me to get home, I would have crashed at a safe house like I was doing before Hood turned up two months ago.” Was the answer they received. 

“You didn’t have to disappear, you know.”Shayera said, taking a good look at the young man before her. He looked much better than he had the last time any of them had laud eyes in him; perhaps this Red Hood wasn’t as terrible as the news made him out to be. “Who are you?” The winged woman asked, directing her inquiry towards the crime lord. 

In response the armored figure removed his helmet and domino mask, reveling in their shocked faces as he said, “Surprise?”

“Jason, is it truly you?” Diana’s voice trembled as she spoke. “How?”

The teen’s face softened at the Amazon’s response. “Yeah it’s me; in the flesh. As for the answer it is: no idea, Talia, Lazarus Pit in that order. ‘Parently T’s minions found me after I dug out of my grave, took to her, she tried to fix me and when nothing she tried worked she resorted to the Pit. Said ‘fore she did the lights were in but nobody was home.” 

At that revelation everyone in the room felt sick (yes, even Slade). Diana immediately grabbed the boy and pulled him into an almost bone crushing hug. “No one should have to go through that much, young one.” Those words had Jason breaking down in tears, clinging to the Amazon’s shirt desperately. When he finally pulled away the warrior princess released him with great reluctance. “Now,” she said, “we must discuss the consequences of the League’s hypocrisy. Batman has done much worse and more often, but has never been made an outcast for his sometimes heinous actions.” Barry and Shayera nodded their agreement. 

“They hurt my brother,” Jason stated darkly. “I want to see them burn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I am aware that it might seem out of character to make Jason and generally act like an emotionally overwhelmed teenager, but that’s exactly what he is so he gets to act like it sometimes.


	4. The Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited confrontation that is unfortunately not as good as I would like it to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this is late, something triggered a severe allergy attack on Wednesday (cough wearing a stupid mask into Walmart for *maybe* two minutes cough) and my head still feels like it could explode any second. So sorry in advance for the way this ends, I just wanted to finish it and be done. And yes I am aware that Flamingo, Professor Pyg, and Dr. Hurt don’t show up until Dick is Batman, but they’re evil and need to die.

Previously: 

“They hurt my brother,” Jason stated darkly. “I want to see them burn.” 

NOW: 

After Jason’s declaration the room was silent. Slade finally broke it with: “That’s all well and good, but how exactly do you plan to do that?” The crime lord’s answering smirk was terrifying. 

“Easy,” he claimed. “Hack the Hall, steal the security footage, remove any identifying information, and leak to the media. Then we can just sit back and enjoy the show as the world learns who their ‘heroes’ really are. What do you think, bro? Your call.” 

“Go for it.” Dick said. “Most people probably still remember two or three years ago when B sent the League on a suicide mission and just sat back and watched. And when everyone but Diana was down for the count he swooped in to ‘save’ the day. The public will be enraged that the League let *that* fly, yet condemned keeping secrets that were necessary to ensure the safety of two undercover operatives.” 

Slade shook his head before focusing his attention on Jason. “Remind me to never get on your bad side, or your brother’s for that matter,” the mercenary said. 

“Does anyone have any objections to this course of action?” Roy asked the room at large. 

“Nope.” Was Barry’s answer. 

“None.” Shayera answered savagely. 

“No.” Came the reply from the warrior princess, her eyes blazing with righteous fury towards the apparently spineless cowards that she had called her friends for over a decade. 

“Since we’re all in agreement, let’s get started.” Roy said. 

THREE DAYS LATER: 

Everything was in place. They knew that Batman would try to shut the feed down as soon as it came to his attention, but Nightwing was the better hacker by far. He could out hack his former partner and mentor any day. Three days of planning to expose the Justice League and their younger partners for who they really were. 

In just under five minutes Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Flash, and Red Arrow would be hand delivering the edited security tapes to Iris West-Allen, Lois Lane, Vicki Vale, and G. Gordon Godfrey, along with a message that the tapes contained vital information about the JL that needed to be made public immediately. With Batman and the rest of the League about to be very busy with the biggest Public Relations nightmare in history, Nightwing and Red Hood were in Gotham waiting for the pandemonium to begin so they could slip into Arkham Asylum unnoticed and get rid of the likes of Joker, Scarecrow, and the other mass murderers who killed countless innocent people for kicks and giggles. 

Three minutes. Deathstroke was standing guard at the GCPD to make sure that, if on the off chance the two former Robins were spotted, the police would be too distracted to make an appearance. Two minutes. Tension was running high and everyone was filled with a nervous form of excitement. 

One minute. One last gear check. The heroes enter the news outlets to deliver their packages. Five seconds. Double check control of Arkham’s security system. Four seconds. Loop security footage. Three seconds. Ready at entry point. Two. One. GO! 

Silently the two former Robins slipped into the revolving door that is Arkham Asylum and into the maximum security wing where all the Rogues were held. They tossed pellets of sleeping gas through the bars of the door windows to each room. Their targets were Dr. Hurt, Professor Pyg, Flamingo, Two Face, Scarecrow, and Joker. When the duo was sure that tue gas had taken affect, they slipped into the rooms and injected each mass murderer with a slow-acting, untraceable poison;well except for Joker, he was given a fast-acting but still untraceable poison because there were rumors that he was planning another escape. With their mission completed, the two vigilantes gathered their empty gas pellets and left the Asylum as silently as they came. 

The next morning the sun shone bright and clear, for once not obscured by dark clouds. Perhaps the death of the Clown Prince of Crime was the reason for the wonderful or perhaps something else. Whatever the reason for Gotham’s uncharacteristically pleasant weather it infuriated Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, and Barbara Gordon. Ever since the edited security footage had been aired the day before Alfred had been ignoring the other occupants of Wayne Manor and the cave below. Now that the truth was out about why the butler’s oldest pseudo-grandson had not been seen or heard from in over five months he was decidedly less than pleased. 

The old man was in the kitchen stress baking mayonnaise cookies (not a real thing as far as I know, it’s just the most disgusting thing I could think of) to force feed to all the hypocrites taking refuge under the gargantuan roof of the Manor, and as he worked he listened to the news on the radio. “Attention, listeners, we interrupt your regularly scheduled news program to bring you a special announcement. At five o’clock this morning, staff members of Arkham Asylum found the infamous Joker dead in his from what the police say appears to be natural causes. Yes, you heard that, folks, the Clown Prince of Crime’s reign has finally ended!” Alfred had to sit down in shock, hardly daring to believe that the madman was truly dead. 

Down in the vast cave system below Wayne Manor, three Bats were brooding about the unforeseen consequences of their words and behavior towards Nightwing five months earlier when an alert suddenly appeared on the Batcomputer’s screen. The Bats stare at the notification in stunned disbelief, not thinking for even a second that it could actually be true. “It has to be a hoax.” Batman growled. “We just have to find a way to prove it. Suit up.” The lone female bat and the boy that wore a Bird’s stolen mantle hurried to grab their costumes and change before the big boss decided to leave without them. The big Bat stayed motionless at the computer, glaring suspiciously at the information displayed on the screen. Something wasn’t adding up, he could feel it. 

For two weeks Gotham was disturbingly quiet, especially in the wake of such a big name criminal like the Joker. (What no one knew was that Red Hood had swiftly claimed the dead clown’s crown as his own and cut down any who dared to stand in his way). One day everything was quiet and the next saw Dr. Hurt, Professor Pyg, Flamingo, Black Mask, and Scarecrow dropping like flies, almost simultaneously. It was enough to make the police suspect that foul play had a hand in the Joker’s death, not that any of them cared. If the person or people responsible were ever found, they would probably an award and have a parade thrown in their honor. 

TWO MONTHS LATER: 

Another day, another global catastrophe. This time it was cleanup from a series of strong earthquakes that were spread around the globe. Blüdhaven was one of the affected cities so the Justice League decided to butt in and invade the city they had *never* deigned to set foot in before, even though Nightwing, Red Hood, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman, Flash, and Red Arrow clearly had the situation under control. As soon as the citizens of Blüdhaven noticed the hypocrites who called themselves heroes they started started throwing pieces of debris and garbage, basically whatever they could get their hands on. The group of invaders consisted of Batman, Superman, Miss Martian, Lagoon Boy, Robin, and Batgirl; the other League and Team members were helping other damaged cities around the world where they could actually be useful. 

When the “heroes” reached the epicenter of the quake, they were shocked to see not only Nightwing and the former Leaguers (they were expected, unwelcome but expected) but also Red Hood and his gang, the police, and most of the ‘Haven’s other gangs and crime families. The question on all of the intruders’ minds was: How in the world did the gangs and mafia agree to work with vigilantes *and* the police? It would later be discovered that Nightwing had pointed out that if Blüdhaven was destroyed the gangs and crime families wouldn’t *have* any territory to rule over, but for now the peculiar phenomenon remained a mystery. 

Blüdhaven’s defenders weren’t any happier to see the League than the League was to see them, and the result was the intruders going largely ignored while the others continued to pull people out of the rubble. Superman flew over to Nightwing and blocked his path to a ruined building where someone was calling for help. “Stand down, Nightwing.” The Man of Steel ordered. 

“No.” Came the immediate reply. “Thus is *my* city and none of you are welcome here. Get out before I make you and don’t ever come back.” 

“Do you really think you can make us leave, *boy*?” Batman growled. 

“It seems that the ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ has forgotten that I could take down the Justice League by the time I was twelve, and I’ve only gotten since then. That *is* the reason I’m your contingency plan to stop you if you ever go rogue, isn’t it?” Nightwing taunted. 

While the League and associates were distracted by the angry tension growing between them and their former friends, Nighwing’s earlier request for backup was answered by the arrival of the only heroes he could trust that weren’t already with him in the city. Supergirl, Troia, and Tempest arrived silently and instantly went to work on the demolished building that Superman was “guarding”, freeing the trapped civilians as quickly and safely as they could. No one but Nightwing and his companions even noticed. 

Red Hood stepped up beside the older vigilante and casually leaned against his brother’s shoulder. “If it comes to a fight, the Bat is mine; we have some unfinished business to attend to.” The taller of the two claimed. 

“More power to you, Hood,” the older boy answered. 

“Who are you?” The Bat demanded angrily. 

“Just someone you *forgot* and *replaced* at the earliest convenience as if I had never existed!” Came the falsely casual retort. 

Batman ground out a furious, “You’re lying.” Before charging head first at the crime lord. Hood dodged, continuing to taunt the man with all the ways he failed as a human being in general and as a father in particular. Robin and Batgirl moved to aid their mentor only to be intercepted by Nightwing, who had a lot of pent up hurt caused by the two morons in front of him; pain that was all too ready to be channeled into anger that he could use as a weapon. The entire situation quickly dissolved into a free-for-all that was over embarrassingly fast (for the Justice League that is). 

Nightwing and his team ultimately proved victorious, but rather than revel in it they returned to rescuing civilians. Hours later they had finally finished combing the debris for survivors and returned to where the intruders had been left hogtied so that they couldn’t cause more problems. Red Hood walked over to where the mighty Batman laid all trussed up like a Christmas pig before kicking him in the stomach and growling, “That’s for what you said to my brother.” Then he walked away, grabbed Nightwing by the arm, and dragged him off to do who knee what. 

Diana looked at the heroes who had assembled to help Nightwing, smiling as they secured the Justice League and the Young Justice League for transport out of Blüdhaven. “Let us finish this quickly so that we may celebrate today’s victories. Tomorrow we will rebuild,” she said, then set to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this lived up to everyone’s expectations. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is welcome. Rude criticism will be ignored.


End file.
